"defeated and the People's Alliance government was formed under the newly elected President Chandrika Kumaratunga. A cease-fire was agreed to in 8 January 1995 and peace talks between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE commenced. By April negotiations have failed and several incidents of violations had taken place. On 19 April 1995, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran sent a letter to the government announcing that the cease fire was effectively over. President Kumaratunga immediately convened a meeting of her cabinet and armed forces island wide were placed on high alert. Hours after the armed forces were put on alert,"
"daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga who had rejoined the SLFP. During the 1994 parliamentary and presidential elections, SLFP completed a successful return to power and Chandrika Kumaratunga was elected the nation's President as part of the SLFP led People's Alliance coalition. Kumaratunga's tenure marked the beginning of the SLFP's shift from the socialism of Sirimavo towards a more centrist philosophy that sought to combine both the free market and the SLFP's traditional people friendly policies. The People's Alliance government continued with their predecessor's attempts to negotiate with the LTTE, whilst simultaneously attempting to weaken them militarily through force. The SLFP government however"
"2001 Parliamentary elections. In November 2003, Kumaratunga used her presidential powers to sack UNP Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and the People's Alliance returned to power at the 2004 polls with future party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa being appointed as the Prime Minister. A rift opened up in the party in 2005 over the choice of the its candidate for the 2005 Presidential election between the President Kumaratunga backed Anura Bandaranaike and Mahinda Rajapaksa. Many members of the SLFP had been uneasy with Chandrika Kumaratunga's liberal economic policies, privatization of many public institutions as well as several allegations of corruption against her."
"withdrawn – which was later done by Indian Prime Minister V.P. Singh. Premadasa was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1993. Rajiv Gandhi had already met a similar fate (assassinated by a Tamil Tiger ) in 1991. Premadasa was succeeded by Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, with Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. In August 1994 the People's Alliance under Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga won legislative elections on a platform of concessions to the Tamils and a 'balanced economy'. Kumaratunga became Prime Minister and in November she was elected President, appointing her 78-year-old (but still active) mother Prime Minister. A ceasefire"
"are facilities to conduct educational and research activities. Parking for 500 vehicles, is also available. In 2005 China expressed willingness to construct a cultural theatre in Colombo, in memory of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga who was a popular actor. The foundation stone was laid to the project by her The National Performing Arts Theatre's construction began in 2006 and took four years to build. The theatre's construction was completed around early 2011 and it was opened in December 2011. It was ceremonially opened by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and China's Vice President of the Chinese Republican"
"were widely disputed by people due to the political context of that time. In 1995, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga appointed a presidential commission to probe the Athulathmudali assassination, which had been an election promise of her 1994 presidential election campaign. The final commission report submitted on October 7, 1997 pointed the finger at former President Ranasinghe Premadasa (1988–93) and security force personnel who were close to him as directly responsible for the killing of Athulathmudali. Subsequently, a few security force members and underworld figures were arrested. They were eventually charged with conspiracy, aiding and abetting to commit murder. Three of"
"as president, leading all 25 parties in the UPFA. She was listed 25th by Forbes magazine in its ""100 most powerful women"" in 2005. In 2006, having remained the leader of the SLFP after leaving office, she ""temporally"" stepped down from the party leadership citing ""continuous harassment she has faced after Mahinda Rajapaksa took office as president"" and soon after left the country to self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. Kumaratunga is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and the Global Leadership Foundation. In November 2009, Kumaratunga was appointed to the 12-member board of directors of the"
"Place, Colombo and the family settled into it. Here their only son Anura was born. Following the death of his father Sir Solomon, Bandaranaike inherited the family seat of Horagolla Walauwa in Atthanagalla. Atthanagalla became his home constituency for the future elections and remained the home constituency of his wife, daughter and son. Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, as she was known after her marriage, became the first female prime minister in the world following Bandaranaike's assassination. His daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga subsequently became Prime Minister (1994) and then first female Executive president in the country, his only son Anura Bandaranaike went"
"of state, head of government and the commander of the armed forces. The long-standing conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority is apparent within the political structure. Both the president and prime minister are members of the socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The party was founded in 1951, and generally represents the interests of the nationalist Sinhala parties. The primary opposition party is the conservative United National Party. In 1959, Sri Lanka was led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world's first female chief executive. Mahinda Rajapaksa became president in 2005 and was re-elected in January, 2010, two years before"
"the Tamil Tigers, while her main opponent Ranil Wickremasinghe called for the commencement of direct negotiations with the Tigers. Three days before the election, Kumaratunga was nearly killed by a Tamil Tiger assassination attempt at her final rally. She lost her right eye, and appeared heavily bandaged on television before the election. 1999 Sri Lankan presidential election The Sri Lankan presidential election of 1999 was the fourth presidential election of Sri Lanka. Nominations were accepted on 16 November 1999, and the election was held on 21 December 1999 Electoral participation was 73.31%. Incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's"
"preference for male candidates among Muslim voters, and in part due to what was widely seen as a mediocre performance in office. Despite a somewhat better than expected performance in the first round of the elections, in the second round she was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two months after Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assumed office, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami struck in the province of Aceh and many other countries along the Indian Ocean coastline. Three months later, an aftershock of the earthquake triggered a tsunami which occurred in Nias Island. In 2006, Mount Merapi erupted and this"
"him with an appointment as Minister of Higher Education. His defection left Bandaranaike and Kumaratunga in charge of the Freedom Party. Due to her mother's declining health, Kumaratunga led the formation of a new coalition, the People's Alliance (PA), to contest the 1993 provincial election in the Western Province of Sri Lanka in May. The alliance won a landslide victory, and Kumaratunga was appointed as the Chief Minister in 1993. Subsequently the coalition led by Kumaratunga also won the southern provincial council elections. Kumaratunga led the People's Alliance campaign for the 1994 parliamentary election, as her mother was recovering from"
"Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (, ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She became the world's first non-hereditary female head of state or government in modern history, when she was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She served three terms: 1960–1965, 1970–1977 and 1994–2000. Born into an aristocratic Kandyan family, Bandaranaike was educated in Catholic, English-medium schools, but remained a Buddhist and spoke Sinhala as well as English. On graduating from secondary school, she worked for various social programmes before marrying and raising a family."
"some of the lowest political participation rates for women out of any Asian country. In 2010, on the 50th anniversary of Bandaranaike's election as the world's first female prime minister, Sri Lankan parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake told the press that Sri Lanka had not made significant progress towards gender equality in politics: only 4.5 per cent of parliamentarians were women. Senanayake had earlier called for a ""special quota"" to achieve better gender representation: such a quota, reserving 25% of all legislative seats for women, was passed in 2016. Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (, ; 17 April 1916 – 10"
"also advanced north towards Elephant Pass and Jaffna. The LTTE was successful in cutting all land and sea supply lines of the Sri Lankan armed forces to the south, west and north of the town of Kilinochchi. In December 1999 the LTTE attempted to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a suicide attack at a pre-election rally. She lost her right-eye, among other injuries, but was able to defeat opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Presidential election and was re-elected to her second term in office. On 22 April 2000 the Elephant Pass military complex, which had separated the Jaffna peninsula"
"Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA), and Kumaratunga was appointed Prime Minister of the country. Wickremasinghe was defeated in the race for Opposition Leader by two votes by fellow UNP member Gamini Dissanayake, who had re-joined the party. This gave Gamini Dissanayake the default leadership of the party and made him the presidential nominee of the UNP. The UNP was progressing well under Gamini Dissanayake's leadership, when he too was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. Gamini Dissanayake's widow, Srima replaced him as the candidate of the UNP in the 1994 election. Securing just 35% of the vote, she lost to"
"surgery. The Alliance won a decisive victory, and Bandaranaike announced that Kumaratunga would become Prime Minister. By this time Kumaratunga had also succeeded her as the leader of the Freedom Party. Mentally alert but suffering from a foot ailment and complications from diabetes, Bandaranaike was confined to a wheel chair. Having been re-elected to parliament, she was appointed to her daughter's cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio at the swearing-in ceremony held on 19 August 1994. In the presidential election that followed in November, Kumaratunga's main political rival, Gamini Dissanayake, was assassinated two weeks before the election. His widow, Srima"
"on 16 June 2005 with its 39 MPs choosing to sit in opposition, citing differences with the SLFP leadership, particularly those stemming from Chandrika Kumaratunga's proposed Tsunami Relief Council (which the JVP had strongly opposed), and her appointment of Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister, an appointment that the JVP had insisted should (and received assurances would) have gone to Lakshman Kadirgamar. The breakaway was followed by the landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared Kumaratunga's term in office being complete on 21 December 2005, and ordered the Election Commission to hold presidential elections before November 2005. The breakaway notwithstanding, the UPFA"
"the government were sworn in on the same day. Prime Minister Kumaratunga was elected president at the 3rd presidential election held on 9 November 1994. On 14 November 1994 she appointed her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike as Prime Minister. Prime Minister Bandaranaike retired on 10 August 2000 and was replaced by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. President Kumaratunga dissolved parliament on 18 August 2000. The 10th parliament saw the following defections: The 10th parliament saw the following deaths and resignations: 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka The 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined"
"judges in an Islamic state. In the modern era, Pakistan became the first Muslim-majority state with an elected female head of government (1988). Currently Bangladesh is the country that has had females as head of government continuously the longest starting with Khaleda Zia in 1991. In the past several decades, a number of countries in which Muslims are a majority, including Indonesia (President Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001), Kosovo (President Atifete Jahjaga, 2011), Pakistan, Bangladesh (prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia (1991-1996, 2001-2009) and Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001, 2009–Present), Leader of the Opposition Rowshan Ershad, Speaker of the House Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (2013–present) and"
"1999). The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament any time after it has served for one year. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In August 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that Presidential Elections would be held in November 2005, resolving a long-running dispute on the length of President Kumaratunga's term. Mahinda Rajapaksa was nominated the SLFP candidate and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe UNP candidate. The Election was held on November 17, 2005, and Mahinda Rajapaksa"
"dissolved parliament prematurely in June that year, in a desperate bid to stem the rising wave of popularity of Chandrika Kumaratunga. However his party was defeated in the 1994 general election and Wijetunga graciously appointed Kumaratunga as Prime Minister. Even though under the constitution, Wijetunga was bestowed with wide powers, he wisely chose not to exercise much authority, letting the Prime Minister manage the affairs of the country. He decided not to contest the presidential election and he appointed Lucky Jayawardena as the organizer for his electorate udunuwara. He relinquished office in November 1994 after Kumaratunga was elected President by"
"if you wish, but don't assassinate my character, which I have cherished from my childhood,"" regarding Athulathmudali’s murder. In 1994, Chandrika Kumarathunga’s People's Alliance government came into power, defeating the 17 year UNP rule. One of the major election promises of her 1994 presidential election campaign was to inquire the unaccounted disappearances and assassinations during UNP’s rule. Thus in 1995, she appointed a 3-person presidential commission to probe the death of Athulathmudali. It was composed of justice Tissa Bandaranayake, justice Padmasiri Gunasekera and judge of the High Court, Nimal Gamini Amaratunge. Although the commission was due to submit report in"
"social issues, and led the country into a protracted civil war. When she returned to party leadership in 1986, Bandaranaike opposed allowing the Indian Peace Keeping Force to intervene in civil war, believing it violated Sri Lankan sovereignty. Failing to win the office of President in 1988, she served as Leader of the Opposition in the legislature from 1989 to 1994. When her daughter won the presidential election that year, Bandaranaike was appointed to her third term as Prime Minister and served until her retirement in 2000, two months prior to her death. Bandaranaike was born Sirima Ratwatte on 17"
"most populous Muslim majority nation- also consists of women. In 1956 she became the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Liberation Army of Egypt. She is considered to be a pioneer for female leaders in Muslim-majority countries. She was the first female Parliamentarian in the Arab world when in 1957 she served in the Parliament of Egypt. The most populous Muslim-majority country. She served as president of Indonesia from 2001-2004, becoming the first female president of Indonesia and the fourth female to lead a Muslim-majority nation. She became Jordan's first female member of Parliament when elected"
"Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra (, , ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou (, , , meaning ""crab""), is a Thai businesswoman and politician. She is a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the 28th Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female Prime Minister and its youngest in over 60 years. Also, she holds the distinction as the world's first female of Chinese descent to have had led the government of a UN member state. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a controversial Constitutional Court decision. She is"
"conquered by the Kingdom of Siam in 1785 and, except for Kelantan, has been governed by Thailand ever since. Although low-level separatist violence had occurred in the region for decades, the campaign escalated after 2001, with a recrudescence in 2004, and has occasionally spilled over into other provinces. Incidents blamed on southern insurgents have occurred in Bangkok and Phuket. In July 2005, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra assumed wide-ranging emergency powers to deal with the southern violence, but the insurgency escalated further. On 19 September 2006, a military junta ousted Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup. The junta implemented a major policy"
"were not enough signatures supporting it. Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga, who had been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1988, when her husband had been assassinated, returned to Sri Lanka and rejoined the Freedom Party in 1991. In the same year, Bandaranaike, who was increasingly impaired by arthritis, suffered a stroke. In 1992, Premadasa Udugampola, head of the Bureau of Special Operations, was forced to retire after an international outcry over human rights abuse surfaced. Udugampola provided a written statement that the death squads used against rebels had been backed by the government. Bandaranaike came out in support of"
"case. Domestic laws are still to be enacted in the constitution and the requirement for evidence of domestic abuse makes it nearly impossible to prosecute. Traditionally, a girl's education took place mostly in the home, coupled with domestic chores, while boys usually went to a Buddhist monastery for education. Education overall for business and careers is lacking in Southeast Asia. Women in Thailand Women in Thailand were among the first women in Asia who were granted the right to vote in 1932. They are underrepresented in Thai politics. Yingluck Shinawatra, a woman, was prime minister from 2011 to 2014. The"
"His rule also coincided with the rise of Chandrika Kumaratunga within the ranks of the SLFP. For some of the elite the daughter of two Prime Ministers was a refreshing contrast to the humble village peasant in President Wijetunga. He did not believe that peace could be achieved by negotiating with the LTTE. His rather hawkish approach to the ethnic conflict also made him unpopular especially among the minorities who traditionally backed his party. The Eastern Province was liberated from the LTTE during his tenure except Thoppigala. After a decisive defeat in the Southern Provincial Council Election in 1994, he"
"served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the Deputy President were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours from 24 until 25 September 2008, between the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe. She was the first and to date only woman to have held the post of President in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign"
"Lu elected as first female vice president while Yeh Chu-lan was promoted to be the first female vice premier in 2004. In 2016, Tsai Ing-wen was elected as president of Taiwan. Nevertheless, as in other parts of East Asia, sex selective abortion is reported to happen in Taiwan. Women in Thailand were among the first women in Asia who were granted the right to vote in 1932. However, they are still underrepresented in Thai politics. Violence against women in Afghanistan is high, although the situation is improving slowly as the country progresses with the help of the international community. Bride"
"medical supplies. Proposals to build a port in Hambantota date back over three decades, but plans never got out of conceptual stages. The Port of Hambantota project was finally launched after Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is a native of Hambantota, was elected President of Sri Lanka in 2005. A leading maritime expert, Nuwan Peiris, commented that this port is a conflict between '...the intervention of two Asian superpowers in Sri Lanka, namely China and India, in a bid to gain supremacy in the case of the former, and a proxy-battle to maintain its natural defense-perimeter in the case of latter. Chinese"